Hate to say it but GT is no longer a marque that I would look at. And I have owned a couple in my lifetime.

Looking at the spec- there is nothing that grabs me as being anything above "just about acceptable"-and I am afraid that even if I saw one in a shop- there is still nothing that would make me take a second look. I know that we are more expensive over here on prices- but this does seem an expensive bike to me aswell.

May be that I am getting more fussy on bikes- but I feel that there would be better bikes around at a more economic price to look at.

Not bad at the price. Deore has been replacing LX of late on many bikes to help hold the price stable but its a big step up from Acera. I wish the manufacturere wouldn't use 15ga straight butted spokes on their wheels, especially on disc wheels.

I like the fact that the bars, seatpost etc are Easton, not some undefined OEM part. This is an excellent starter bike with much more promise as a keeper than many other starters. For a lot of riders, this is all of the bike they will need.

You will always be able to find it when coming out of the pie shop after lunch............

I'm kinda surprised that GT is offering such a bike. You can't find this type of bike from Trek, Specialized, Giant, Cannondale, Marin, Jamis, Gary Fisher, or Fuji (to name a few popular brands).

Kona, Raleigh and Redline (to name a few) offer similar bikes. Most of the brands you mention and many others have hard tail aluminum 29ers. The early development of 29er MTBs was mostly done by small builders and leaned heavily toward steel frames, hard tail designs and often rigid forks. A great many of the most popular 29ers from the small builders are still steel, rigid and single speed.

29ers and the people who ride them were a little different from the start.

I searched Raleigh's and Kona's web sites and could not find multi-geared, all-steel, rigid frame bikes. I did find single speeds from both. Perhaps I missed the others, as there were a lot of bikes to sort through.

From Redline I did find the D460. It looks nice. But even it is only a 9-speed, which I think makes for a nice bike. But as the front crank is only a 34t, it isnt' for everyone. I think it would be an excellent bike for riding gravel bike trails. List is $1049.

I see that the Raleigh with gears also has a suspension fork and the Kona rigid steel bike is a single speed.Raleigh XXIX+G

So whatever point it is you are trying to make about the rarity of bikes of this configuration, I'll concede it.

But I am not at all surprised to see GT making such a variation of their Peace 9er. You'll probably start seeing more variations of these bikes available from more sources as 29ers become more and more mainstream. Many people who have traditionally bought these kinds of bikes are tinkerers who are likely to configure the bike many different ways for different purposes or on a whim. It's a small step to offer one with gears to appeal to a different group of potential buyers.

I honestly would prefer some home job'ed blue or green spray can paint job with a few drips and runs over riding the GT in its standard colors.

I do admit that the whole concept of a single speed 29'er mountain bike escapes me, especially with a rigid frame/fork. What do people do with them? Do they ride difficult trails with a SS? Or is more level-terrain off-road? I like these bikes when they have multiple gears.

"Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." Louis L'Amour

There are two types of road bikers: bikers who are faster than me, and me. Bruce Cameron - Denver Post

You wouldn't like what people do on rigid SS MTBs no matter how many gears or how much suspension you had. I know people who ride those things on some of the gnarliest and hilliest trails I've ever ridden...and they blow me away. Of course, other people ride them more casually on milder terrain. Different strokes for different folks.
(and the people who race rigid SS bikes are about as different as you can get - they just aren't quite right )

I checked a couple of those SS 29'ers for their sprocket sizes. One had 32t front and 18t rear, which is approx 51-52 gear inches. The other was slightly lower at 33t & 20t. On the low side, but not nearly low enough for me to get up a nasty dirt hillside.

"Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen." Louis L'Amour

There are two types of road bikers: bikers who are faster than me, and me. Bruce Cameron - Denver Post

I only changed off rigid forks in 2001 after the bypass and it was to ease the shocks going on the chest that did it for me. I that I am now older and would probably not be able to ride rigid with any force- but the only place I make use of Suspension forks is downhill. Uphill and on the flat- I do not need suspension.

And Since riding road bikes- I find that I do not need the lower gears on our offroad hills- I may still use the granny but it has to be a steep or long hill for me to use the 22/32 that is the lowest gear on the bike. It may be hard but higher gears will get me up the hills faster.

I checked a couple of those SS 29'ers for their sprocket sizes. One had 32t front and 18t rear, which is approx 51-52 gear inches. The other was slightly lower at 33t & 20t. On the low side, but not nearly low enough for me to get up a nasty dirt hillside.

So tell us, Tom, what gear combination do you normally use to climb steep, rooty, rock-strewn hills on a geared MTB?

My old Bridgestone has been a workhorse for me. I've used it extensively since our daughter was born, pulling the burley trailer, and lately a tag-along. I think everyone should have a rigid mtb.

Good point. I always have an old, rigid fork MTB hangin around my basement shop. We still have my son's 88 Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo and I currently have a Bianchi Ibex, but it's too small for me. I've converted my Nishiki Ariel to a front suspension so it's not a rigid fork any longer.

Other than obtaining the 29" rims, I don't know why someone would buy a new rigid fork MTB. There are so many nice, old rigid fork bikes out there that are cheap, easy to service, and would take low bucks to rebuild. If you did the work yourself, you can usually come up with a fine, rebuilt bike for around $100. If you hire an LBS to do the work, make it $200.

Good point. I always have an old, rigid fork MTB hangin around my basement shop. We still have my son's 88 Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo and I currently have a Bianchi Ibex, but it's too small for me. I've converted my Nishiki Ariel to a front suspension so it's not a rigid fork any longer.

Other than obtaining the 29" rims, I don't know why someone would buy a new rigid fork MTB. There are so many nice, old rigid fork bikes out there that are cheap, easy to service, and would take low bucks to rebuild. If you did the work yourself, you can usually come up with a fine, rebuilt bike for around $100. If you hire an LBS to do the work, make it $200.

I put the Orange Crush on Craigslist for $200 and got nary a nibble. Steel, barely used bike actually, despite the age. The first owner rode maybe 200 miles and then stored the bike in his garage for 17 years. I put another cupla hundred on it and then got the Globe.